The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-08-22
CHARLESTON CHAT.
The Weekly Budget from the City by
the Sea-

the Sea.
CHARLESTON, Aug 20.-That murderers
should go unpunished in South Carolina is
excite comment The latest instance of the
kind occurred, of course, in Edgefleld, where
man who had been convicted of man.
slaughter. and sentenced to twenty-five
years imprisonment, was released. The
Croghan murder, in Charleston, of
which the readers of tae MORN
different thing In this case the very mys-
terry that surrounds the crime appals people
The fact that the crime was committed in
the same section of the city where the Nc
Knight murder was committed, several
years ago, adds much to the significance Of
the crime
A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE.
Charleston has now three mysterious muir
ders on her calendar Seven years ago a
drummer named Aldrich disappeared mys-
teriously. He had been i'll the city fire.
quently, was we'll and was generally
liked. His disappearance has never been
accounted for to this day.
THE M'KNIGHT MYSTERY.
Three years ago a colored woman named
Mcknight was found murdered in the
II
woman was well known, had the reputation
of being virtuous, and was traced up to
within an hour of her death. The case was
attended with so many horrible details that
the community was very much excited.
The machinery for detecting and Furnishing
crime in this city is not the best, and half
dozen or more suspected people were ar
rested only to be discharged, At length the
city took hand in the matter, and Pink
prtDn 6ptaptIUa npanlOya6 N hprp
and ferret out the crime So successfully did
this man do his work that his presence
in the city was not even suspected
when the man whom he pointed out as the
murderer was arrested. He was however
never brought to trial. and it is useless to
mention his name as he is still an influential
citizen. The detective had worked up a
case against him which would have con
victed him before any honest jury in the
land, If the case had ever come to trial
But the prisoner had good counsel,
q State Senator who had a large voice in
the appointment of judicial officers, and the
Magistrate who held the preliminary heal~
ing dismissed the prisoner. The community
was at first outraged, but the matter blew
over, as all matters generally do, and was
| almost forgotten until its revival by the
Croghan murder.
Now it is recalled that as far as circum-
stantial evidence could go the Pinkerton
man had tracked the Mcknight murderer
| down, and made his crime as plain as the
| MONDAY sun, in spite of which, he was
discharged by a weak Magistrate without
| bail Shall Pinkerton man be engaged to
| ferret out the Croghan murder? for it is
admitted that it will never be ferreted out
| otherwise 1t is doubtful What would be
| the uses is asked What good did the Pin
| kerton man do in the Mcknight casel In
| the Croghan case q negro laborer, who gave
| some confused testimony before the coro-
| ner has been arrested, and if nothing else
| turns up, the poor negro, who is probably
| innocent, will be held for the crime But
| this hardly satisfies the communty.
Many people think they see in the Croghan
| murder the illustration of an old proverb-
something like curses come home to roost.
There is demand for something to be done.
The administration of justice here is, to
put it mildly, slack. AT the cor
oner's investigation nobody represents the
State. The Coroner is an estimable gentle
man, but by no means a lawyer, and is left
to founder through mass of irrelevant
testimony the best way he can. How is it
possible to have an intelligent investigation
The State Solicitor says that it is not his
business to appear at the inquest, and hence
| the inquest rarely amounts to anything
The Investigation into the Croghan mystery
will be watched with interest
The Coroner's inquest, after adjourning
over, met on Friday, and no further evI-
dence being forthcoming, returned the
usual verdict Hunter, the negro who was
the victim of the first ''clue,' was held in
| $500 bail, in the hope of something else
| turning up.